Your dirty, dirty car

by Rigel Celeste (Subscribe to Rigel Celeste's posts)
Apr 6th 2007 9:03AM

If you drive a car, and most of us do (except maybe you New Yorkers out there), you probably spend a great many waking hours in that tiny space traveling to and from all kinds of places. Your car really is a big part of your life -- some of us even name our cars like they're people, or pets, or something.

But a good question to ask yourself next time you're getting comfortable in that cushy seat is what kind of germs are lurking nearby? And how many are there? More than you think, I'd be willing to bet.

What area is the worst? Obviously, anywhere you've ever spilled food and not cleaned and sanitized properly ranks #1. Some other places, though, surprised me a little. Like the dashboard -- the dust on the dashboard -- harbors a LOT of bacteria. And some places you might think would be full of germs, like the radio knob or door locks, are actually some of the cleanest on the list.

I guess I need to make another entry on the "Spring Cleaning" to do list.

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Comments (5)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

JW 4-10-2007 @ 11:08AM

Good comments, here are some other areas:

1. Child safety seats and areas surrounding.
2. Steering wheel.
3. Mobile phone docks.
4. Arm rests, safety handles, power window and lock buttons.
5. Aged micron air filters.
6. Windshield and or surrounding glass/trim.

When you or a professional clean your vehicle, use products that are approved for vehicle cleaning as to avoid damage.

Clean and dry before you add things like:

1. Vinyl and plastic protectants.
2. Leather protectants and conditioners.
3. Fabric protectants.

As a special note, do not leave the residue caused by protectants, wipe clean to avoid rapid accumulation of dust and dirt.

JW

Flarncie Bonanno 4-10-2007 @ 12:05PM

Life is full of germs, so what? We're here! Talk about something sometime that isn't ubiquitous, please. This is getting almost as old as I!

kevinbeair 4-10-2007 @ 12:26PM

most people's cars are disgusting, is it really that hard to wipe it down with windex and vaccum once a month? I don't they realize how disgusting it is.

And i laugh at those stupid commericials about protecting your little kids from germs with germ cleaners, and then they show the kids playing with the family dog, ofcourse the idiot adults don't realize the 2 biggest source of germs are their own kids and dogs, and then they let both in their cars and still don't clean it. Idiots!

JW 4-10-2007 @ 1:39PM

There are a number of "do it yourself" products or professional services that can help you keep up with these issues, it takes time and money... the vehicle owner has to be the judge.

There are professional detailing entities in most marketplaces, look them up, see the level of professionalism they use to describe their services, budget and use their services, inspect all finished product prior to payment.

JW